Mutterings of a Mad Woman

I think I need to take a cue from xNEUROSPASTA next Christmas and create my own Dalek tree.

Maybe create a TARDIS cover for my fireplace.

Speaking of Dr. Who, normally I find Christmas Day kind of depressing after about 6 pm but this year I am very much looking forward to sprawling on the couch, too full to wear pants, too tired to wash the dishes, and watching the Dr. Who Christmas episode (SPACE - Canada's answer to ScyFy - is actually running Dr. Who alllll day long, including a "best of the Christmas Episodes" installment).

Less than 3 hours before the Hungarian inlaws descend on the house. I'm done everything I'd planned to have in place before they and my mother (and Brizzby, the Bouvier) arrive. Which is a nice feeling because usually I am still running around like a mad woman at this time.

I hope all of you are also done whatever you have left to do this Christmas Eve. And if you're not, I hope you're at least having some fun as you rush around. And be safe out there. Lots of accidents yesterday in the city, and like Ellen Griswold said when Clark was driving like a mad man at Christmas: "Stop it. I don't want to spend the holidays dead."

Happy Ho Ho. Will probably pop on tomorrow, but just in case I miss you, a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Got an early Christmas present from my oldest friend who knows me very well.

A smiling skull scrub brush.

Of course, it's so much fun I don't want to actually use it to clean up dirty plates.

I've been brainstorming various other cleaning tasks where I could use it but it would last longer (bathroom sink cleaner, pretty thing I look at and play with instead of actually cleaning, etc) but have yet to come up with a winning idea. His fate may be in dish-scrubbing in the end. Even if he wants to be a dentist instead.

We're in the final stretch of Christmas prep when everyone starts to go mad with stress over what they haven't gotten done, so I'm hoping all of you can find some time to just relax a bit and enjoy yourself before Christmas.

I don't know about you, but I tend to enjoy the days just before Christmas more than the actual day.

Today I'm taking my mother to go and see the live theatre production of Mary Poppins for her birthday. Perhaps I can bring back a little of that sing-a-song-and-everything-gets-done magic for us all. Wouldn't that be nice?

Or at the very least, a chalk drawing we can jump into to escape it all.

Today I'm off to frolic in the Distillery District for the last day of their Christmas Market. It's the closest thing Toronto has to a traditional market like the ones in Europe (I've been blessed with having the chance to attend one in Munich).

It will be a full-on Christmas injection: carolers, mulled wine, reindeer, Santa and probably the act of spending too much money.

The one thing it will be missing is Krampus, so I thought I'd share this video of the Krampus parade in Austria. I know we often throw around the word amazing, but in this instance it's not only fitting, but perhaps understated.

Now excuse me while I plot a way to convince Yetch to take me to Austria for next year's parade.

"Algonquin College. Exam week can be stressful on students. Inspired by the Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus, the Television Broadcasting students at Algonquin College wanted to showcase the new Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence by lightening the mood with the help of the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir and Darth Vader."

See it glowing, so lovely, so welcoming? It's all a ruse to lull you into a sense of calm.

It all started a week ago.

Yetch and I brought the tree upstairs. Since I'm a light fanatic when it comes to Christmas trees (thank you Mom), I tend to have more lights than most people. In fact, I have so many lights my tree looks as though it's decorated before I hang the first ornament.

Because of this, I don't take the lights off each year. Instead, we carry it into the storage room every January, throw a large orange jack o'lantern plastic bag over top, and leave it alone.

What follows is a mundane, boring tale of how Christmas has an evil side lurking beneath it, and how it all started with a string of lights.

I am one of those people who, when pressed, will admit to being a skeptic and pessimist; that I believe, overall, the world is full of terrible beings.

While people can be wonderful in moments, I still think we encounter more negative spirits than positive ones. Or at the very least, tend to show each other our more selfish sides than sharing our giving, loving selves.

There are few things (and I mean a trickle in the stream) in this world that always reminded me that we're not all lost in this bungled existence. At the top of the list was Ludo.

I've had many dogs throughout my life, but this creature was different. He was some strange little benevolent gentleman in a furry body; my touchstone whenever I had just about given up on hoping the universe would redeem itself.

Today we took the old man for his last car ride. Before heading to our final destination, we stopped at his favourite place in the world (besides home): a leaf-lined path through the woods up north. We didn't stay long or travel far, but even in the short stroll he was able to take in his weakened state, he seemed more alive than he has the past few weeks (though still heartbreakingly ill). Or maybe more at peace than he has been.

Death is sad, yes. And losing a creature you've a bond with is devastating. But more than that, the world moves on, not knowing it's lost one of the few lights in the gloom. So today, in my own small way with this post, I wanted to make sure as many people as possible knew that one of those lights has been extinguished.

So raise a glass to the old man. Bid him a deserved farewell. Toast all things and people that bring light into our lives. And tonight I'll light a candle because my world has gotten noticeably darker.

The last traces of this year's Jack O'Lantern - the seeds - have been mistreated.

I had been saving them to make the Pumpkin Seed Brittle recipe I've been eyeing for years, resisting the urge to snack on their toasted goodness while they waited patiently in a container in my office (Yetch would have devoured them otherwise).

Today I found the time to make it. Had it heating up on the stove when I thought "oh! I should have my camera and take pictures for the website".

By the time I ran into the other room and retrieved the camera, my brittle went from light toffee to deep amber.

Up early on this Sunday morning (thanks to change in the clocks and Yetch's inability to turn his alarm off). While making pumpkin pie I saved some of the filling to infuse in milk and make myself a pumpkin latte.